Philly, D.C., New York, Chicago, and Nauvoo!

One of the perks of teaching is having the summers off! This summer I was lucky to be able to spend 3 weeks visiting many cities and historical sites with my friends Tracy, Chelcie, and Hanni. This is just an overview of our trip!

On June 18 we flew to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We had tons of fun and saw many neat things. We were in Philly off and on for 2 weeks. Here are the things I liked the most about Philadelphia:
*Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches! (We went to Geno's which is famous for theirs)
*The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall (where the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed...)
*The Magic Gardens on South Street (it's a cool outdoor mosaic)
*Watching a Phillies and Angels game
*Going to Wawa (a convenience store where you could design your own sandwich)
*Riding the R6 train from Conshohocken (where we stayed) to Philly
*Going to Chinatown to catch buses to D.C. and New York
*Getting yelled at by a homeless lady in a train station
*Getting yelled at by the locals in Philly
*Making new friends
*Eating water ice at Rita's, Yum!
*Shopping at H&M
*Riding the Phlash bus
*Seeing the set of the movie "Transformers 2"
*Going to the Philly Museum of Art and then running up the steps like Rocky did!

On June 21 we went to D.C. We were there for 3 days. We could have spent 3 weeks there though! It was by far my favorite place that we went. These are the things that I loved about going to D.C.:
*Riding a double decker tour bus around the city
*Buying I heart D.C. shirts
*Going sight seeing at night with our friends that were living in Virginia
*Seeing the White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, and US Capitol Building.
*Going to the Holocaust Museum (it was very interesting but sad)
*Going to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (the Hope Diamond was huge!) *Watching "Get Smart" in Fairfax, VA
*Telling ghost stories in Virginia
*Getting passes to the US Capitol Building from Chris Cannon's office
*Going to the House of Representatives Gallery in the US Capitol Building
*Seeing the Embassies of many countries
*Seeing the "Charters of Freedom" in the National Archives Building

On June 26 we went to New York. We stayed there for 3 days also. It was tons of fun! Here are the things I enjoyed about New York:
*Watching the musical "Hairspray" on Broadway
*Seeing Yankee Stadium (both the old one and the new one)
*Riding subways all over town
*Seeing the Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero
*Shopping in Chinatown on Canal Street (I'm sure you know why!)
*Eating at Planet Hollywood in Times Square
*Seeing Rockefeller Center
*Watching Catholic Mass in St. Patrick's Cathedral
*Riding the train to Long Island where we stayed with friends
*Seeing the Atlantic Ocean near the Hamptons
*Flash flood rain storm in New York City

On July 2 we flew to Chicago from Philadelphia. Unfortunately Tracy didn't get to come for this last part of the trip. We had a lot fun in Chicago. It's one of cleanest big cities that I've ever been in. We timed our visit just right so that we could go to "The Taste of Chicago." Here are some other things we enjoyed:
*Going to Millennium Park and seeing "The Bean"
*Eating Chicago Dogs and Deep Dish Chicago style pizza
*Staying in Sandwich, Illinois
*Seeing the Sears tower
*Riding the free trolley
*Going to Navy Pier and riding the Ferris Wheel
*Seeing Lake Michigan (it's so huge it looks like an ocean!)
*Watching fireworks over Lake Michigan for the 4th

On July 5 we went to Nauvoo, Illinois. It is a historical city where members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lived before the moved west to avoid persecution. It was a really neat place and I'm glad that I got to go there. Here are some things I loved about Nauvoo:
*Seeing the Nauvoo LDS Temple
*Visiting old homes and businesses
*Getting a Nauvoo brick and "Prairie Diamond"
*Eating fudge
*Going on a carriage ride
*Hearing stories and history of the amazing people that lived there

That day we also went to the Carthage Jail where Joseph Smith was martyred. This was a very special place. We watched a video about the prophet and then went on a tour of the jail.

Overall, this trip was so amazing. I'm glad that I was able to go to so many places that I have heard about and learned about for my whole life. I have definitely gained an appreciation for all the men and women who have sacrificed for our country and for my religion.